How to tell if my bat is approved in 2018? New rules for youth baseball bats

Here is a list of of organizations that will enforce the new rule, as well as how to tell if your Louisville Slugger or DeMarini bat are in compliance with the new youth baseball bat rule.

The following information was provided courtesy of Louisville Slugger:

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As I am sure you know, there is a new USA Baseball bat rule which went into effect January 1. The new rule will result in millions of parents needing to buy their youth baseball players a new bat for the coming season. Many parents aren’t aware of the change and the need to buy their young player a bat that obeys to the new rules. The new USA Baseball bats are made to make aluminum and composite youth bats perform more like wood bats.

Children 14 years old or younger who play youth baseball in most of youth baseball’s largest organizations will be required to swing bats with the USABat Stamp to show the bat is approved for play. Those organizations are:

What is the new rule?

The max barrel diameter is 2 5/8” (or less) for all players 14 and under. This makes the metal bats perform more like wood bats. Your player may be disappointed at a decreased exit speed (up to 10% less), which could mean fewer home runs.

However, the end result should be positive. Not only will it make the game safer, but it will make for an easier transition to more advanced levels of play. That’s because the new USA baseball bat standard, with its wood-like performance in youth bats, brings youth bats more in-line with high school and college bats which are designed to perform more-like wood since the BBCOR standard was implemented in 2011. Bats approved by USA Baseball have barrels up to 2 5/8″.

About Author

Doug Bernier, founder of Pro Baseball Insider.com, debuted in the Major Leagues in 2008 with the Colorado Rockies, and has played professional baseball for 5 organizations (CO Rockies, NY Yankees, Pirates, MN Twins, & TX Rangers) over the past 16 years. He has Major League time at every infield position, and has played every position on the field professionally except for catcher. Where is he now? After batting .200 in 45 at-bats and fielding .950 during 2017 spring training with the Rangers, Doug was assigned to the Ranger's AAA team the Round Rock Express. You should click to watch this great defensive play by Bernier

2 Comments

We have received some questions for example like “Why don’t you just use wood bats since they are now similar in performance?”

From my understanding, most of the highest grade wood bats are reserved for the professional leagues. To supply the youth, high-school, and college levels with premium quality lumber would be difficult.

Also, in youth leagues, players have a tendency to miss-hit more balls and the amount of broken bats would most likely end up being costly.

I also like that you said safety and preparation for youth players advancing to higher level leagues is a reason to change. I would just like to add that another reason this change was made was to help create uniformity across youth leagues.

In my day playing Little League, the player that hit the most homers, also tended to have the most expensive bat. (the -5 Z-Core had unreal pop)

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